From NEHJ: Liking Linus

NEWARK, N.J. — The Boston
Bruins came up a little short in their magical run to the 2013
Stanley Cup championship series, but the team is optimistic the
future remains bright after adding more raw but promising pieces to
the organization in the NHL Entry Draft here June 30.

The team’s top selection
was not a household draft name in solid and steady Linus Arnesson
out of Djurgarden of the Allsvenskan (second division) in Sweden,
but the B’s stayed close to home with the choices of Ryan
Fitzgerald (North Reading, Mass.) and Wiley Sherman (Greenwich,
Conn.) later on.

“What we tried to do is
take the best player available when we picked,” Bruins
assistant GM Jim Benning said. “We sat here for
four-and-a-half hours before we got our first pick at the end of
the second, so we were excited when (Linus) Arnesson was still on
the table there for us.”

A prospect who came into the
draft projected as a solid second-round option after missing
eligibility for the 2012 lottery by just six days, Arnesson has
nice size, skating ability and plays a good defensive game. He was
a member of Team Sweden’s silver-medal-winning World Junior
Championship squad last winter.

“We had good follow-up on
Arnesson,” said B’s head European scout Juha Holtari.
“Every time we see him, he plays a steady game. Excellent
defensive skills — smart, anticipates the play well. Pretty
much one of those guys you like the more you see him, and if he
turns out to be the player we wish, he’s going to be in the
style of (Andrew) Ference or (Dennis) Seidenberg.”

In a position where the
B’s did not have any real pressing needs in their system
other than adding players they identified as being the best
available throughout the draft, they carried that mantra with them
in rounds three to seven, adding four forwards and two defensemen
to the mix.

“I think we (select) the
best player we can take every year,” said Wayne Smith, Bruins
amateur scouting director. “I felt this year’s depth
was more Europeans than usual, but I think it’s a great group
of guys.”

While missing out on a second
championship in three years is no doubt disappointing, the Bruins
appear poised to leverage the picks they’ve made in recent
years into a roster that has the potential to keep the team
relevant going forward. Since 2011, Dougie Hamilton, Alexander
Khokhlachev and Malcolm Subban are three youngsters with the kind
of promise to help form a solid nucleus, but it is still too early
to tell, even if the initial returns appear promising

With few spots open at any
position on the big club, and some solid options already in the
system to address those needs, the 2013 draft class is an
investment that will require substantial time to mature before the
B’s will see any dividends.

In the meantime, the club might
have lucked out in getting Fitzgerald in the fourth round after he
was initially projected to be a second-round selection. His close
ties to the city of Boston and the Bruins organization (his uncle
is the team’s assistant amateur scouting director) make him
an obvious favorite among those who follow the draft, and it was a
special night for the Bay State native.

“(There were) ups and
downs of being a Boston fan this year with everything that happened
with the marathon,” he said. “Being a part of
that and the organization is huge.”

For now, the Boston front office
is pleased with the returns. Boston fans can catch their first
glimpses of the newest Bruins hopefuls on July 10, when the
prospects will gather in Wilmington, Mass., for the seventh annual
Development Camp at Ristuccia Memorial Arena.

“We ended up drafting a
couple of defensemen that fit the system that we play,”
Benning said. “The forwards, we added some speed and
skill, so we kind of added a little bit of everything.

To read Kirk's analysis of
each of the Bruins' draft picks, check out this story in the digital edition of our July
issue. To subscribe to our digital edition for FREE, go to hockeyjournal.com/free.